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Published: June 15th 2018
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Massey to Deep River
Michele found a site at the Unifor mill workers campground just outside Sudbury. As a former
union member (CUPE 1930) and a strong believer in unions, I thought it was a good choice. The
campground was mainly filled with RVs and trailers - we were the only occupants of a huge field
designated for tenters. I had a few problems getting there, as I had to go on the Sudbury bypass
on which cyclists were not allowed. It would have been nice if the authorities had placed the
no cycling sign before the ramp to the bypass, rather than after. I could only shrug my
shoulders and carry on. We drove into Sudbury so Michele could get her fix of Chapters. The city
reminded me a bit of Kenora, built into and around protrusions of the Canadian Shield. They must
have used a lot of dynamite building this town. The huge twin smoke stacks dominate the skyline,
and as we drove around the city, I kept losing track of where they were, as if they were moving
around of their own accord. Michele started
talking about learning a new musical instrument. Because
they are small and would fit in our packed car, she had Ukeleles in mind and she thought it would
be a good thing for us to learn in the evenings. She began keeping her eyes open for pawn shops and
music stores.
The weather remained perfect the next day as I continued my way on the road between Sudbury and North
Bay. Just past the small town of Wahnapitae, I came upon a lady's wallet. After our experience last
year, I nearly left it there, but I couldn't. It contained no money, nothing much of value at
all, except a health card. When I met Michele for lunch, which we ate in the parking lot of an
EMS ambulance station in Hagar, I gave her the wallet. She knocked on the the door of the station
and gave it to a paramedic who said she would get it to the OPP. Problem solved. Fifteen minutes
out of Hagar, I found another one - this one also a lady's wallet. Again, nothing much of value, but
a driver's license
and a health card. I pedaled into the town of Warren, in which there is an OPP
detachment. There was sign on the door that said no one was at the detachment and to use the phone
on the wall. The dispatcher found an officer in the area and told me to wait till he showed up. I gave
hime the wallet and continued on my way without the psychological burden of having someone else's
The officer thanked me for taking the time to turn them in - he seemed to think that they had probably
been stolen and then chucked after any cash had been removed. I stifled the crazy impulse to proclaim
my innocence.
From the rugged hard rock of Sudbury, the landscape transitioned to verdant farmland and the road became
less uppey-downey. Home for the night was at the Cache Bay community campground 3 or 4 kms off the highway,
just west of Sturgeon Falls. The bay is at the west end of Lake Nippissing and the campground is right on
the shore. It is over the tracks (it's a rule: all campgrounds are near
the railway) at the end of a
little dirt road that you would never expect led anywhere. Then you turn a corner and there it is:
a little gem on the shores of Lake Nippissing. It is run by Marj, who keeps all the facilities spot-
less and in perfect working order. She was a florist for 25 years, and it shows, for most of the
cottonwoods have beds around their trunks with flowers that she plants every year. The campground
is full of RVs and trailers owned by people who obviously come back year after year to spend the
summer. Some have screened-in porches attached and many have welcome signs identifying the owners:
"Gisele and Gaston" or "Al and Ev's place" were two that I noticed. Marj set Michele up in a beauti-
ful site that was close to all the facilities and had electricity - $25. The after supper activity
for couples (mostly grey hairs like us) seemed to be to walk hand-in-hand to the dumpster with the
days garbage and then to promenade around the little loop of campsites greeting each other and some-
times stopping
to shoot the breeze. It was a brilliant place and remains our favourite campground so
far this year.
Sturgeon Falls is a pretty little town. Michele went to a huge indoor flea market there that had a bit of
everything, except for the things Michele wanted (ukeleles and antique toy tin sheep). The highway runs
along Lake Nippissing from Sturgeon Falls to North Bay but the lake is not all that visible for quite a distance
until the fairly flat terrain rises a bit and there is a lookout point. It is a big lake- not Great
Lake big, but definitely big. I was diverted to a bike path in North Bay when the highway became a no cycle
zone. The path was paved and ran through beautiful woods and I had absolutely no idea where it would
take me. A lady gave me directions to highway 17 but I got them mixed up and ended up touring North
Bay for a while. In the end I found my way and headed toward Matawa. Michele had passed me when I got
lost in North Bay. She was waiting
for me about 10 km down the road at a hot dog stand where we had
lunch. The highway was pretty uppey downey and I found it pretty challenging. Lots of gratuitous hillage,
as Michele would say. We passed up staying at the Samuel de Champlain provincial park (apparently he ex-
plored this far inland) for Sid Turcotte campground in Matawa. Samuel was a great explorer and all, but Sid
Turcotte was, well... someone. His park was pretty nice. Tall pines right by the Matawa River. We went
for a swim and I got ducked by diving in while Michele did her usual inch by inch torture emersion. Suddenly
she screamed and claimed something had touched her leg. I made fun of her but began inching toward the shore
just in case. I went over and, sure enough, saw a fish (unknown type) about 16 inches in length that kept
approaching Michele as if it wanted her leg out of its territory. Her suspicions about swimming in rivers
rather than lakes thus confirmed, we returned to shore.
The road from Matawa to Deep River has as much gratuitous
hillage as anywhere on our trip - according to
google maps, it goes up 903 metres and goes down 975 metres. So it was a hard 100 km, but I noticed I was
getting a little better at climbing. Whether or not it was because of a physical or a mental change or a
bit of both I don't know. Stephane, a cyclist who passed me on this section, (riding from Nelson to the Gaspe)
had some wisdom on this subject. He said uphills are nothing because you get it back going down the other
side. I guess you earn your freewheeling. Tailwinds are a gift from God, whereas headwinds are a... punishment?
Stephane said getting emotional about hardships does not help you get down the road. A wise man.
Michele got us a site a Ryan's gift shop and campground, located just west of Deep River. It was a beauti-
ful place right on the Ottawa River. We tried swimming in a river again, but this time there were too many
floaters - decomposing leaves, pollen, etc. - to make swimming pleasant. Unfortunately, the facilities had
seen better days.
A hostile squirrel had taken possession of the ladies room and threatened Michele when she
went in there. And the bugs - oh man! We went to bed real early and in the morning my only thought was to
get ready as quickly as possible and ride away before succumbing to blood loss.
Next time we leave Highway 17 behind and meet with some old friends and finally make it out of this very large
province.
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